So my concerns were mostly laid to rest today finally. I went back to the store where I bought the gun and asked them to look at the barrel. They told me it IS slightly defective, but not enough to warrant replacement since such small irregularities in the inner surface of the barrel would probably not affect the ball much, if at all. To prove it, they took me out back and gave me a few really old, brittle rounds to shoot (remember the mantra of good paint is whats needed for accurate / precise shots) and I was still able to put most of the rounds within about a one square foot area at 50-60 feet, which is perfectly acceptable for me. I'm still not 100% sure that I don't want them to replace the barrel, but at least the performance is within my desired margin of error (3'x3' box at 100' is what I want), so now I guess its time to stop worrying about how its going to perform and start worrying more about how I'm going to perform.

Stay away from smart parts IONS, Bob Long (pre-2006), old shockers, ICD Promasters, DP G3/G4, Bushmasters, Azodin anything, Spyder anything, automags, angels, dragun, Proto SLG's, etc.
If you enjoy perusing for used-hard-to-find parts then be my guest, but i dont want to be that guy looking for some obscure LPR, QEV, or solenoid whatnot no longer in production.
If you dont know what youre doing, buy a current mainstream marker.

hopper:
$50 valken v-max
$100 Dye v3 rotor
$150-$200 Virtue Spire

tank: ($75-$100) (compressed air only, avoid co2)
Bottle brand (Ninja, Geurilla, Crossfire, Valken, Pure Energy, Draxxus, Empire, etc etc) does not matter as long as there are 2-3 years left on the original hydro date)
Anything with a Ninja 4500psi adjustable regulator, 68/4500 size bottle is ideal for most.
It's worth the few dollars to seek out and purchase a Ninja reg over other brands.
Stay away from Guerilla Myths regulators.

Masks:
mostly subjective but i would suggest VForce Profiler or Grillz for high performance/value ratio. If you have a small head i4's are very nice. I personally like Empire E-Flex's.
Invest in a thermal lens (smoked if available).

a) Keep in mind alot of members may suggest a certain product to try and sell you crap they're currently listing on the BST.
b) Head out to your local airball field and ask around. Those tourney players go thru alot of gear and most of them are gun whores(lots of higher-end, mainstream product experience).
c) Snowed in with bad weather? YouTube.com video reviews are your friend.

You know the really funny thing is, as I've been going back to places looking for a power loader, the people who wanted me to buy an Axe, Rail, or Envy all cringe and tell me how wrong I am when I tell them I decided to go for the Etek. I imagine the same would have been the case across the board if I had gone with any one of those. I haven't seen this many fervent fanboys in a long time...

....until your "safety frame" bends all to hell on a bad dive and you realize why.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Box

The price for failure is high.

Oh Noez!!!!111!!1 I've gone and flushed my money down the toilet by buying a gun that will crumple like paper in my hand as soon as I bump it on something!!!111!!1!

Seriously though, there were just as many people here telling to buy an Etek or Ego as there were telling me to buy something else. The people in shops here in town who wanted me to buy a Rail didn't like the idea of me getting an Axe OR an Etek / Ego and likewise, the people who wanted me to get an Axe or Mini, didn't think a Rail was a good gun for me. In the end, Castro is correct when he says that they are all so close in performance that it almost doesn't matter which you get beyond personal tastes for appearance and feel.

As for its structural integrity, I'll say this: Whether it is a design flaw or a design feature, the chances that I'm going to impact the gun hard enough to accomplish this are fairly low. After all, there are thousands, if not tens of thousands of Eteks and Egos out in the world, but only a handful of instances where the frame has been bent. Furthermore, any gun will bend if you abuse it enough, not just Planet Eclipse products and a quick Google search for bent paintball guns will return a variety of different gun models, including the Rail and its variations, which would have been my likely other choice. In the end, if it bends, then I'll come back and tell you that you were right, but I really doubt its going to happen, especially since I've already abused it just as much as I've ever abused the old Carbine and it still looks new.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Castro #66

The thing about having so many products so close in performance is that they're all right and they're all wrong.

Like I said, maybe you oughta get a pump instead.

I think the pump idea is going to be where I have to go, but for a different reason. When I finally got to go use my new gun this past Sunday, the field (which, to be fair, was indoor and smallish) had about 95% renters (mostly birthday groups) and the other 5% was me and 6 other guys with better guns and lots of experience. We weren't uber by any stretch of the imagination, but we knew what we were doing and could output a lot of paint accurately if we needed to. Those two facts led us to be asked to sit out of almost every game after the first few, to the point where we had to wait 20-30 minutes to take the field by ourselves for about 2-5 minutes. All told we got to play about 8 short rounds in 3 hours of play time and were still barred from participating in the renter games even after complaining to the staff. When we asked why we couldn't join, we were told over and over again that they didn't want to go up against "full auto" guns like ours, though I imagine they also didn't want to deal with our aggressive tactics either. Not saying it would solve everything, but at least if I had a pump gun, it would get rid of the full auto argument...

So I've been going through this thread and really to be honest; It's all about a small matter of opinion...
Most of the time, posts come from haters and those who have heard a story from a story from an uncles, cousins, aunts, best friends post man and we all know the big fish story from the fisherman!?

I bought a G4 2 years ago simply cause I liked its price, the looks (custom colours) and the fact that it was so completely different compare to what most players here in South Africa play with. I still to this day get asked what kind of marker it is or if it is the new PE Ego/Goe/DM or something.

That's the problem with new/newer players/kids of today (I've seen it all and been involved with this wonderful sport for well on 19 years) all they want is what is the most popular brand/marker/loader and what the sales person tells them to, but not what is necessarily the "best"/most reliable/bang-for-buck marker around. I researched my choice for 6 months before I made my purchase. Too many are not willing to do the same and just go for the most expensive cause they think it's going to make them a better player.

Here where I come from DYE's and Ego's rule the roost and I don't have any problem with those. If I could afford an Ego/Geo, hell yes then I would buy one. But as I am restricted to a budget for me the most important is Value for Money (Bang-for-Buck as you guys would say) There was a guy here who bought a custom Ego CSL w/custom lazer engraving on it, paid an absolute fortune for it, and the poor sod couldn't even walk the trigger??? I shot him so many times off the break that he stopped walking on with my team. Needless to say he sold the marker, actually gave it away and got a "lower" end Ego, saying it was better for him. ????
But the only comment I have ever gotten from players who has used my marker for a game or two, where they usually use a DM/Ego/Geo, is mine is a little louder than what they are use to. ????? No comments about kick, accuracy, reliability (it's given me a few headaches off the field but never in a game) etc.
I mean come on, these guys are using the "best" right? Why is the only comparable difference that they can pick up, the sound signature?
Mine has a stock bolt and reg but with PMD (for the looks), Freak barrel, Virtue board, 7th Element eyes and I usually run a Spyder Fasta loader. It's not "up'd" (modded as we say here) by any streach of the imagination.

All modern markers and I'm even referring to those from the days of Shockers and Eos's, e-Blade's and e-Mag's, All do the same thing at the same speed; Shoot paintballs at 10+bps and 300fps. No tourney will allow a marker to shoot over 15bps or 305fps, so really it comes down to, first and fore-most, budget. Then things like effeciency and reliability come into play, but again that does also come down to marker maintenance and whether you want to tinker and tweak, or just be a slob and never lube your marker.

I've always said to any new person who is looking to get in to the sport... first buy your own good mask, the best you can afford, it's a relatively small outlay compared to markers, loader, pod-packs etc. Then go play with a few players markers see which one fits your hand, your style of play, the way you pull the trigger (very important IMO) these things will quickly make your mind up as to what kind of marker you want. If it is going to be a mid range "unknown" marker, then get it. If you want to look like a complete noob and get the **** shot out of you, get mommy and daddy to buy you a $1500 marker, and never come play PB again. I'd rather play with 10 guys who know what they are doing on the field than with 50 who don't have a clue.